Jerry Sloan: 'A couple' of NBA teams have called

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Former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has spent the last two weeks on his farm in southern Illinois, but rainy weather has kept him on the paved roads.

"Not a lot of activity in the farming department," Sloan said.

While the rain has limited his outdoor activities, Sloan told The Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday he's been on the telephone with officials from "a couple" of NBA teams who wanted to gauge his interest on a possible return to coaching.

Sloan would not identify the teams and, at this point, has not received any job offers.

"It's just been conversation more than anything else," he said. "I'll explore it and see what's going on. It's mostly been people checking on what I'm doing, what my wishes are and how I'm thinking."

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Sloan turned 71 in March. He coached the Jazz for 23 seasons before resigning on Feb. 10, 2011.

Asked what kind of situation might lure him back to the bench, he said, "One thing is, at my age, you'd probably like to coach a team that has a chance to win some games, rather than one that's down the ladder a little bit."

Sloan has not talked to anyone from Brooklyn, which finished fourth in the Eastern Conference during the season but was knocked from the playoffs in the first round.

On Monday, the Nets announced interim coach P.J. Carlesimo would not return and star point guard Deron Williams told reporters he would welcome a reunion with Sloan. Williams spent 51/2 seasons with the Jazz before being traded to the Nets two weeks after Sloan's resignation.

Is Brooklyn a possible destination for Sloan?

"I don't have any thoughts about [the Nets] because nobody from there has talked to me," he said. "So there's really no need to talk about it."

Sloan's health won't be an issue if he pursues a return to coaching.

"I feel good Â­ just fine," he said.

There are currently six coaching vacancies in the NBA.

Cleveland has already hired Mike Brown to replace Byron Scott, but Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Phoenix, Milwaukee and Detroit continue to look for a new coach.

Also, the statuses of Larry Drew in Atlanta and Vinny Del Negro in Los Angeles are unclear after the Hawks and Clippers lost in the first round of the playoffs.

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